Safety watchdogs investigate goalposts

THE SAFETY of goalposts in children's football is to be inves- tigated, the British Standards Institution said yesterday.

The inquiry is in response to the comments of a coroner at the inquest on a boy killed by a falling crossbar. That accident in Yorkshire four months ago was the ninth time a child had been killed in an incident involving goalposts in Britain in 10 years. David Woolliscroft, the institution's general manager of standards development, said: "It is high time the issue of children's goalposts safety was properly addressed

"The committee conducting the inquiry will be looking at issues such as design, impact testing, strength, stability and safety warnings." Kate Hoey, the minister for Sport, said the Government fully supported the inquiry.

John McDermott, national football development officer at the Football Association, said: "We are determined to ensure the highest possible level of safety for grassroots football."

The coroner at the inquest into the death of seven-year-old Jack Sheerin in West Yorkshire appealed to the Government and FA to set new standards. The boy's skull was fractured by a falling steel-tubed crossbar at Thornhill Football Club in Dewsbury. The inquest was told that children had swung on the bar.

Safety guidelines were issued by the FA in 1991 after the death of an 11-year-old boy.